According to a news report, Saudi Telecommunications Company (STC) is exploring options for its indirect stake in Maxis Bhd.
Bloomberg reported that Saudi Telecom is gauging interest in its 25% holding in Binariang GSM Sdn., which is the controlling shareholder of Maxis. The Riyadh-based Telco may consider selling the stake to a Malaysian pension fund or another financial investor, two of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
The Binariang holding gives Saudi Telecom an effective 16.2% interest in Maxis valued at about $1.8 billion, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Binariang also owns a majority stake in Indian wireless carrier Aircel Ltd., which is merging with larger rival Reliance Communications Ltd.
The reports said that Saudi Telecom hasn’t started a formal auction process for its Binariang stake and could decide to keep it, according to the people.
Bloomberg said Saudi Telecom declined to comment. A spokesman for Maxis didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail and phone call.
In Q2 2016, Maxis lost 149k revenue generating mobile subscribers in the country. Service revenue dropped slightly to RM2,055 million against RM2,122 million in 1Q16. It had 12.25 million mobile subscribers, out of which 11.02 million are revenue generating subscribers.
Maxis is owned by Malaysian billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan.
[Source]– Bloomberg
